Riverside County voters flocked to polls

WYATT HAUPT - Staff Writer

A wild recall election that ended with Democratic Gov. Gray
Davis being ousted from office and Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger
chosen as his replacement, produced strong voter turnouts in both
Riverside and San Diego counties, officials reported Wednesday.

A total of 381,827 people -- or 57.88 percent of the electorate
in Riverside County -- cast ballots in the recall that led to a
governor being booted for the first time since 1921, when North
Dakota voters canned Republican Gov. Lynn Frazier.

That total is expected to top 404,000 once county election
workers finish tabulating 23,000 last-minute absentee and
provisional ballots, election officials said. If those remaining
ballots all count, the percentage of people who voted in the recall
election would increase to slightly more than 60 percent.

Riverside County ballot totals are expected to be updated
Friday.

Last November's gubernatorial election that pitted Davis against
Republican Bill Simon produced a 47.68 percent voter turnout in the
county, election records showed.

"It was really quite a spectacle" said Riverside County
Registrar of Voters Mischelle Townsend, on the enthusiasm voters
showed in the recall election at polling locations throughout the
7,200-square-mile area.

A total of 70.33 percent of the Riverside County voters backed
the recall, election figures showed. Schwarzenegger topped the
replacement candidates list with 60.83 percent of the vote,
followed by Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante with 21.59 percent and state
Sen. Tom McClintock at 13.55 percent.

Local legislators cheered the results.

"I think Arnold is going to do an excellent job as the next
governor of California," said Assemblyman Ray Haynes, R-Murrieta,
the area's senior legislator. "The recall was about changing the
direction of the state. I know he is going to do that. He's ready
to make the changes that are necessary."

Some of those changes are expected to include repealing a move
by Davis that tripled vehicle license fees -- the so-called car tax
-- as well as dealing with the state's workers' compensation and
budget woes.

Workers' compensation rates have more than doubled in recent
years, while the state's budget deficit is estimated at between $8
billion and $10 billion for the 2004-05 fiscal year, projections
show.

"I fully expect Gov. Schwarzenegger will follow through on his
promise to bring back business and opportunity to our state," said
state Sen. Jim Battin, R-La Quinta, whose 37th Senate District
takes in a large portion of Southwest County -- Canyon Lake, Lake
Elsinore, Quail Valley, Romoland, Sun City and Winchester.

"He's committed to increasing revenue by growing the economy and
not by raising taxes."

In neighboring San Diego County, voter turnout was several
percentage points higher. A total of 746,057 people or 57.5 percent
of the county's registered voters cast ballots in the recall,
election figures showed.

However, San Diego County still has about 90,000 absentee and
provisional ballots to count, which should bring its total turnout
to about 65 percent, Registrar Sally McPherson said. San Diego
County totals are expected to be updated later this week and early
next week.

In last November's gubernatorial election 48.8 percent of the
electorate in San Diego County cast ballots, records show.

"In my view, things went very, very smoothly," McPherson
said.

County election officials have until Nov. 4 to certify their
ballot counts. Secretary of State Kevin Shelley then has until Nov.
15 to certify the election results, according to state law.